Great Advice – If You Are 20

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come back to more traditional bodybuilding training as a supplement to my martial arts training. Traditional bodybuilding is less ballistic and leaves me less vulnerable to injury. When I was younger, I never worried about injury nor did I get injured often. Once I passed 35 years old though, I started getting injured much more frequently.

Traditional bodybuilding flies in the face of most of the current athletic training focusing on crossfit, functional training like climbing ropes, etc. Trainers correctly surmise athletic training creates more functional abilities for competition. Few mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters do traditional bodybuilding anymore. After they retire though, I believe the older martial artists should consider the benefit of traditional bodybuilding.

Based on my own experience and what I’ve seen in the gym, crossfit’s ballistic training leads to injuries such as knee, shoulder and bicep tendons injury. As long as you stay away from ego lifting and keep your reps at or above the 6-8 range, traditional bodybuilding is extremely safe.

I had a lipoma removed from my shoulder in November 2016. Two days later, I was back in the gym doing cardio. Seventeen days later, I was lifting weights again. I credit my consistent bodybuilding training for my quick recovery.

I do not discount the value of crossfit in competitive athletics. Long term, I would give traditional bodybuilding training a chance. If you are no longer in your twenties or thirties, you will find it more forgiving.